REVIEW: ‘Wolverine’ can’t recover

The Wolverine seems invulnerable, but on the inside, heâ€™s a heartbroken, wounded mess. Doesnâ€™t that make him dreamy?

Ever since he had to go and kill Jean – the psychotic, clairvoyant killing machine and love of his life – he hasnâ€™t been the same. He just exists, just goes on, pointlessly â€¦ kind of like this movie.

The latest in the X-Men franchise is certainly a letdown from 2011â€™s exceptionally fun and clever X-Men: First Class. This episode finds Logan/Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) holed up in a cave, living the life of a semi-boozy hermit, befriended, or at least tolerated, by a neighboring grizzly. But heâ€™s lured out of hermitage by some dangerously incompetent hunters and a sword-wielding young woman with a request from Loganâ€™s past.
Come to Tokyo, she says. Iâ€™ll have you home tomorrow, she says.

Wolverine is quickly sucked into yakuza/ninja/samurai/mutant/romantic intrigue.
In Japan weâ€™re treated to too much sentiment, not enough action, and not nearly enough opportunity for Jackman to break out of Loganâ€™s morose romanticism and crack a few jokes. Director James Mangold is preoccupied with honor, courage and love â€“ solid enough staples for a samurai-tinged action film, but a humorless Wolverine is just no fun at all.

Mangold continues to take the X-Men path less traveled by supplying so very few mutants. One common weakness of late-franchise superhero flicks is that they throw dozens of villains at you in the hopes of drawing your attention away from script weaknesses. Mangold has the bravery to avoid this gimmick, supplying only on mutant villain, Viper (Svetlana Khodchenkova â€“ whose name is exponentially more interesting than her character).

The result? We can see how weak his script is.

The Wolverine does boast some cool action sequences â€“ especially that bit on top of the train â€“ and Jackman has more than enough talent and brawn to keep the movie interesting. But mostly the film dives into Loganâ€™s internal scarring and seeks to help him appreciate his immortality and his purpose. Maybe next he can rediscover his sense of humor.